Fix: Rise of Nations doesn’t work in Windows 10

The Rise of Nations is a popular strategy game released in 2003, but it seems that Windows 10 users are having some issues with this game. According to them, Rise of Nation isn’t working on Windows 10, so let’s see if we can fix that.

The Rise of Nations is an old game, so some issues are expected, but if this game isn’t working you might want to try the following solutions.

How to Solve problems with Rise of Nations

Fix: Rise of Nations problems in Windows 10

Solution 1 – Run DXSETUP.exe and reinstall Visual C

According to users, this is supposed to be performed automatically by Steam when you start the game for the first time, but for some reason, this doesn’t happen, so you have to do this manually. To do this, follow these steps:

Go to The Rise of Nations installation folder. By default it should be something like c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\rise of nations but this could be different for your computer.

Next go to the _CommonRedist folder > DirectX > Jun 2010 folder and run DXSETUP.exe. Wait for it to finish.

Now go to _CommonRedist > vcredist > 2012 and install both files.

After installing both files you should be able to run the game now.

Solution 2 – Run the game in borderless window mode

Some users claim that running the game in fullscreen mode causes issues, so let’s change the mode from fullscreen to the borderless window. This is usually performed from game’s video options menu, but if you can’t even start the game, you can change it by changing the game’s .ini configuration file. To do so, do the following:

Go to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Games\Rise of Nations and find a file called rise2.ini.

Open that file and find the Fullscreen=2 line.

Change the value from Fullscreen=2 to Fullscreen=1.

Save the changes.

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Solution 3 – Run the game in the compatibility mode

Due to old age, we can’t skip on the possible compatibility issues with Windows 10. The Rise of Nations, allegedly, worked as a charm on earlier Windows iterations, both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. However, Windows 10 is seemingly another cup of tea and running the game in the compatibility mode should resolve some issues.

Solution 4 – Check GPU drivers

Another viable lead tracks down to GPU drivers. Things tend to complicate when the legacy classics are played on Windows 10 platform. Occasionally, the latest properly-updated GPU drivers won’t cut it for older games. That, of course, means that you’ll need to experiment and find the right driver able to run the game.

Here are the support sites of the most-renowned OEM’s. Download the older drivers and try running the game.

A lot of users managed to resolve the startup issue with The Rise of Nations by a simple change of the INI file configuration values. In order to do so, navigate to the installation folder, open rise.ini and rise2.ini files and delete all values.

Finally, if none of the previous solutions proved fruitful, you can always try reinstalling the game and move from there. In addition, if you’re using Steam to run the game, you can also validate its integrity and resolve possible issues that way. Here’s how to do it in the Steam desktop client:

Open Steam.

Right-click on The Rise of Nations and open Properties.

Select Local Files.

Choose ”Verify integrity of game files…” and restart your PC after the process ends.

Now the game should run in borderless window mode, and it should work without problems. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, just let us know in the comments down below.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in Decembr 2015 and has been since completely revamped and updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.